German key notation - used (among others) in German, Dutch (in the Netherlands, where it is used along with the usual system), Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Lithuanian (along with the usual system), Serbian (along with the usual system), Croatian, Slovene, Hungarian, Polish, Czech and Slovak. The German key notation differs from the usual system in two respects, namely that B natural is referred to by the letter H and B flat by the letter B by itself, and that sharp and flat designations do not use words but suffix is for sharps and suffix es (reduced to s if the tone letter is a vowel) for flats, except that (as already mentioned) in the German system the letter B by itself already means B flat. However in some places where the German system is in use one may encounter the use of B for B natural and Bes for B flat. This is especially common in the Netherlands.

There has been a tendency in some countries which historically used the Fixed Do key notation or the German key notation to switch to the usual system, especially among musicians working in popular music genres or jazz. The only case where this can lead to some confusion is when the letter B is used: should it be understood as B natural (usual system) or B flat (German system)? Another tendency has been to use the usual system in writing but to read it out according to either the Fixed Do or the German system if those are the systems used locally. For example recent French scores or books may use the usual system (this is especially common for chord symbols), but French users would read out that notation according to the Fixed Do system. Similarly a Dutch musician may refer to a written F♯ orally as Fis. This article is concerned with written usage.

To form a key designation, locate the note name in the pitch translation table and add the major/minor qualifier from the lower table as needed.

Pitch translation table

alphabetic systems

solmization systems

English

German

Dutch

Japanese

Italian

French

Spanish

Portuguese

Russian

Romanian

Dutch

(Netherlands)

(Belgium)

(Written)

C flat

Ces

Ces / C mol

変ハ (hen-ha)

Do bemolle

Do bémol

Do bemol

Dó bemol

До-бемоль

Do bemol

Do mol

C

C

C

ハ (ha)

Do

Do (Ut)

Do

Dó

До

Do

Do

C sharp

Cis

Cis / C kruis

嬰ハ (ei-ha)

Do diesis

Do dièse

Do sostenido

Dó sustenido

До-диез

Do diez

Do kruis

D flat

Des

Des / D mol

変ニ (hen-ni)

Re bemolle

Ré bémol

Re bemol

Ré bemol

Ре-бемоль

Re bemol

Re mol

D

D

D

ニ (ni)

Re

Ré

Re

Ré

Ре

Re

Re

D sharp

Dis

Dis / D kruis

嬰ニ (ei-ni)

Re diesis

Ré dièse

Re sostenido

Ré sustenido

Ре-диез

Re diez

Re kruis

E flat

Es

Es / E mol

変ホ (hen-ho)

Mi bemolle

Mi bémol

Mi bemol

Mi bemol

Ми-бемоль

Mi bemol

Mi mol

E

E

E

ホ (ho)

Mi

Mi

Mi

Mi

Ми

Mi

Mi

F

F

F

ヘ (he)

Fa

Fa

Fa

Fá

Фа

Fa

Fa

F sharp

Fis

Fis / F kruis

嬰ヘ (ei-he)

Fa diesis

Fa dièse

Fa sostenido

Fá sustenido

Фа-диез

Fa diez

Fa kruis

G flat

Ges

Ges / G mol

変ト (hen-to)

Sol bemolle

Sol bémol

Sol bemol

Sol bemol

Соль-бемоль

Sol bemol

Sol mol

G

G

G

ト (to)

Sol

Sol

Sol

Sol

Соль

Sol

Sol

G sharp

Gis

Gis / G kruis

嬰ト (ei-to)

Sol diesis

Sol dièse

Sol sostenido

Sol sustenido

Соль-диез

Sol diez

Sol kruis

A flat

As

As / A mol

変イ (hen-i)

La bemolle

La bémol

La bemol

Lá bemol

Ля-бемоль

La bemol

La mol

A

A

A

イ (i)

La

La

La

Lá

Ля

La

La

A sharp

Ais

Ais / A kruis

嬰イ (ei-i)

La diesis

La dièse

La sostenido

Lá sustenido

Ля-диез

La diez

La kruis

B flat

B

Bes / B mol

変ロ (hen-ro)

Si bemolle

Si bémol

Si bemol

Si bemol

Си-бемоль

Si bemol

Si mol

B

H

B

ロ (ro)

Si

Si

Si

Si

Си

Si

Si

Major/minor alteration

English

German

Dutch

Japanese

Italian

French

Spanish

Portuguese

Russian

Romanian

major

Dur

groot

長調 (chōchō)

maggiore

majeur

mayor

maior

мажор

major

minor

Moll

klein

短調 (tanchō)

minore

mineur

menor

menor

минор

minor

Note that the 'major' alteration is usually superfluous, as a key description missing an alteration is invariably assumed to be major.

In the German notation scheme, a hyphen is added between the pitch and the alteration (D-Dur). Minor key signatures are written with a lower case letter (d-Moll).